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Gilbert Melendez vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 170

It looks like UFC 170 just picked up an exciting Lightweight bout. According to the Russian site MMA Boxing, Dagestani Sambo fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov will face former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez on February 22.

Melendez made his UFC debut as a challenger to Ben Henderson at UFC on Fox 7. After 5 rounds, he came up on the short end of a split decision. He followed that up with a fight of the year contender against Diego Sanchez at UFC 166. He took a unanimous decision after three rounds in that fight.

Nurmagomedov has gone undefeated in 21 career fights, five of those taking place inside the Octagon. Most recently, he faced off against Pat Healy at UFC 165. After three competitive rounds, "The Eagle" scored the unanimous decision victory over "Bam Bam".

In the headlining fight of UFC 170, Daniel Cormier will make his Light Heavyweight debut against former champion Rashad Evans. The event will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Khabib's striking still has a ways to go, he was getting punched up in the Healy fight. I think Gildozer outworks him, outpoints him and gets the decision with a ton of output.

Diego's striking has gotten so predictable and sloppy, yet he was able to find Gil's face a few times. He also got Gil down early too. I think biggest thing working for Khabib is his wrestling. He just comes forward each time, and has gotten better with each step up in competition. Not to mention one of the biggest things working against Gil is his cardio. He seems to fade in fights when the action is bought to him, and I think it was the reason why he let himself get uppercut by Diego in that 3rd round.

Khabib, from what I know, trains with AKA while stateside, and having Josh Thomson give him some insight is always a good thing. I see this fight being a lot closer than Gil bulldozing his way to a decision.

Although not officially, the bout is targeted for UFC 170, which takes place Feb. 22 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

If it’s ultimately booked, Melendez will return following his “Fight of the Year” candidate with Diego Sanchez, whom he beat via unanimous decision at UFC 166 in October. That fight marked the first win in the UFC for “El Nino,” who debuted in the promotion with a title fight loss to then-champion Benson Henderson in April. Prior to the debut, he built a seven-fight winning streak as a champion with Strikeforce.

Nurmagomedov would look to keep his perfect record intact. The Russian finished 2013 with a 3-0 record with decision wins over Pat Healy and Abel Trujillo at UFC 165 and 160, respectively, and a knockout win over Thiago Tavares in January.